


...I'm At Home

by The_Order



Series: Home [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Parallel, F/F, Introducing Your Girlfriend to Your Dad, Motorcycle Rides, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 03:37:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17541944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Order/pseuds/The_Order
Summary: With her scarf sufficiently hiding the evidence of their intimacy, Yang grabbed Blake's hand and hauled her off of Bumblebee and towards the entrance to the house. The door swung open violently at Yang's push, and the blonde woman all but stormed into her home with a cry of "DAAAAAD, WE'RE HOMEEEE!"Originally published 22 January, 2018





	...I'm At Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is a commission, once more, from the great RvB_Caboose_RRA on iFunny. If any of you are interested, shameless plug, follow “rwby-order” on Tumblr in order to join my cult of people who love the Team RWBY ships more than life itself.

    The engine of the motorbike roared underneath the two women as the cruised down the street. Blake watched the trees slide by and listened to the rushing of the wind. She never thought she would like motorcycles. They seemed too loud and bombastic for the normally quiet woman, and growing up she hated just about anything that got above a dull roar. About a year ago, though, she met someone more loud and bombastic than anyone else on Remnant, a woman who burned like the sun and roared like a dragon.

 

    A dragon who liked really,  _ really _ , bad puns, but a dragon nonetheless.

 

    Yes, she will admit that she didn’t like the girl at first (though, in her defense, interrupting someone who is quietly reading is  _ never _ a good way to introduce yourself), but it wasn’t long until Blake found out that a little noise, a little chaos, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. On that first day, their initiation day, she couldn’t help but follow the happy shouts of the only person who managed to fly as far out into the forest as she did. 

 

    When she found the girl, Blake remained out of sight, wary of meeting the girl’s eyes and damning herself to four years dealing with a person who she assumed to simply be a loud, pompous girl without much of a brain nor a heart.  _ ‘I’ve seen her type before,’  _ she had thought. Though, something in her heart twinged when she realized the girl was looking for her sister. When she stumbled upon a group of Ursa, Blake vividly remembers grimacing. She  _ knew _ the woman was a showboat. All flash and no bang.

 

    Blake had known she couldn’t just leave the girl to fend for herself against the beasts. True, she would try and save anyone from death if she could, but something told her that there was more to this blonde than met the eye. What happened next is something that Blake would always remember.

 

    The way she fought...eyes red and hair ablaze, this woman flowed like water and burned like fire. Blake found out then and there that Yang Xiao Long had earned her flashiness, that she was equal parts ‘flash’ and ‘bang’. The Ursa never stood a chance, and so Blake, almost without thinking, took a gamble and joined the fray.

 

    On that day, and the days and weeks that followed, she learned more and more about this amazing woman, and each new piece of information just made the girl seem more and more stunning. The complemented each other, Blake realized over time, in the best ways. When they fought side by side, the seemed to meld together, becoming one entity. They were warm tongues of flame leaping from a fireplace and the mesmerizing shadows they cast on the world around them in equal parts, and soon enough, they were inseparable.

 

    Now, here they were. Since then they have risen up as best friends, been cast down father then Blake thought she could survive going, and risen back up higher than ever before. They’d come so far since then, and so Blake wrapped her arms tighter around the blonde driver’s waist more out of want of closeness than need of balance. She felt her lover’s warmth against her chest, and held on tight as the motorcycle roared onwards, homeward bound.

 

**0000000000**

 

    It had been a few days since their rendezvous in the shower, when Yang had given herself to Blake and Blake to Yang in the most intimate way possible, and had spent the days in between in a state of blissful warmth, almost always touching. They had spent their days in each other's arms: whether that meant cuddling on the couch and watching some action movie or another, or participating in activities of the more... _ intimate _ variety. 

 

    Regardless, the two women had gone off to town for the past few hours to pick up a few groceries and some clothes for Blake, as the faunus had only a few pairs of clothes with her when she had shown up at Yang’s home a few weeks prior. All their merchandise was stashed securely in the saddlebags of ‘Bumblebee’.

 

    Blake set her head on Yang’s shoulder, wishing her helmet wasn’t stopping her from listening to Yang’s heartbeat, and watched the world zip by. Soon enough, the asphalt beneath them turned to gravel, and Yang was forced to slow to a more moderate pace as they began the last stretch of road on the way back to their home.

 

    “Hey, Blakey, whatcha thinking about?” Yang called back over her shoulder, now that the wind had quieted down.

 

    Blake smiled, and rubbed her cheek against the leather of Yang’s jacket. She shrugged and said simply, “Nothing.”

 

    She felt as much as heard Yang chuckle, “Oh, you are never thinking about nothing.”

 

    Blake let herself laugh easily, and sat up a bit, “No, really, I’m not thinking of anything. Just enjoying the ride.”

 

    The gravel crunched beneath the heavy tires, and somewhere off in the trees that flanked this gravel road a bird sang. Yang smirked mischievously, not that Blake could see, and said, “Well, I hope you’re not enjoying the ride  _ too _ much.”

 

_  ‘Well, that was a curious thing to say,’ _ Blake thought, before asking, “What do you mean by that?”

 

    Yang kept her eyes on the road, but rached a single mechanical arm back to palm Blake’s thigh teasingly and said, “Well, beautiful, when most women have something between their thighs vibrating like this-”

 

    “Alright!” Blake interrupted her lover’s crude comment, She heard Yang break down into cackles, and could help but feel just the slightest bit of embarrassed frustration at being teased yet again. This, too, was a new development in their relationship. Ever since they had first slept together, Yang had taken a great joy in teasing her. It was not something Blake found unpleasant by any means, and did rather enjoy the lurid jokes in an odd way that only Yang could ever pull off, but they were also uniquely frustrating. For the first time ever, Blake felt the urge to retaliate, “I promise you, Yang, I am not going to get off on your bike’s engine. That’s what you’re for.” She punctuated the comment with a quick peck on the nape of Yang’s neck.

 

    All at once Yang’s laughter stopped, and so did the bike. They came to a lurching halt, and Yang fell silent for just a second before her laughter returned tenfold. She cackled madly and looked back at her brunette girlfriend, a brilliant blush across her cheeks, and Blake could help but join her.

 

    After a minute, the embarrassed laughter died down and their breath returned to them. Even so, their matching blushes remained, though Yang’s was fading much faster than her more prudish partner. “Oh, Blake, I love you so much,” she said breathlessly.

 

    Blake, not knowing what else to do, rewarded her by leaning over and kissing her gently on the lips.

 

    After a moment, they were moving again. The motor purred, and Blake was increasingly aware of the vibrations between her legs thanks to her horrible, wonderful girlfriend. She pointedly ignored it, and they rode the rest of the way home in amicable silence.

 

**0000000000**

 

They were almost home now. The wooden cabin was going to be in sight soon, and Blake knew this. She could feel dread beginning to creep into her gut, not because she didn’t want to be back at the house, but rather what would come next.

 

    Today was to be their final day at the house. The two had been talking, and decided that they were ready, and on the following day the second half of Team RWBY would venture out into the world to find the remaining half of their team, starting with Ruby in Mistral. Their only real problem, of course, was that they didn’t know exactly  _ where _ Ruby was.

 

    Blake remembered their conversations well, talking over dinner about how to track down Yang’s younger sister. The CCT network was still down, so calling her wasn’t an option, and they had no way of knowing if Ruby had even made it to Mistral. As it was, their plan was quite simply to go to Mistral city and, as Yang so eloquently put it, “Wing it.”

 

    It was good enough for Blake, but a part of her quite simply didn't want to leave. She showed up at this house a few weeks ago with only the worst of expectations, but now this little house in the forest of Patch contains some of the sweetest memories of her life. A part of her wishes she could just stay here alone with Yang forever, even if a larger part wanted to help her friends. She had no plans to tell her girlfriend about her feelings, as she didn’t think they were worth mentioning.

 

    Blake turned her head to look at the saddlebags of the bike. There wasn’t much in them, just some MREs they had picked up from an army surplus store and some canned food, as well as some canned food (Yang had insisted they splurge on some tuna as well). Yang had also more or less forced Blake to model some clothes at a store, and left with a few spare pairs of pants and shirts.

 

    Blake was not looking forward to getting home because she didn’t want this to end, and, on a much more petty level, she didn’t want to deal with putting up all that they had bought. She wanted to enjoy her last day of peace with the woman she loved, and irrational though it was, Blake didn’t want to spend any of her time doing menial chores. 

 

    That thought, though, flew from her mind the second they turned into the driveway and the woman in her arms shouted out, “Holy crap!”

 

    Blake jumped, and looked over Yang shoulder to see what the blonde thought was so exciting. The only thing out of place was the brown jeep that sat in the driveway of the house. “Who’s car is that?” she asked as Yang pulled her bike up alongside it.

 

    Groceries forgotten, Yang scrambled off of the bike excitedly and said, “It’s dad’s! Gah, I was getting worried that he wouldn’t show up before we left and I wouldn’t get to introduce you to him!”

 

    A small thrill of fear shot through Blake’s stomach at the word ‘Dad’. Maybe it was childish, but the idea of meeting her girlfriend’s father was uniquely terrifying. She reached out as Yang finally got herself off the bike and caught her arm, “Wait, Yang.”

 

    Yang could hear the trepidation in Blake’s voice, which swiftly changed her excitement into worry. She looked back to her still-mounted partner and asked, “Woah, what’s the matter?”

 

    Now that she had gotten Yang calm once more, Blake asked, “Are we going to tell him about...us? Will he take that well?” The idea that her  _ wouldn’t _ scared her. She wasn’t worried he would lash out or anything, but this was the man who fathered Yang Xiao Long, who would all but strangle someone if they so much as  _ looked _ at her sister with nothing but the purest of intentions.

 

    And they had sex in his house’s shower.

 

    And the guest bedroom.

 

    ...and the living room.

 

    Yang rubbed the back of her neck with her mechanical arm, the other still held in Blake’s grip, and said, “Well, he can be a  _ bit _ protective, but I’m sure he'll love you!” She smiled brightly near the end of her sentence, before letting it drop a second later, “Though, you raise a good point. It might be better to, ah, ease him into the idea.”

 

    Blake spent another moment looking into her girlfriend’s eyes, letting herself calm a bit, before speaking, “Yeah, that sounds much better. We’ll tell him at dinner, okay? I know you want to tell him, but I’d rather him know me as your partner before he knows me as your girlfriend.”

 

    At that, Yang’s smile returned like curtains parting to let in the sun, “Yeah, that’s smart. I do  _ really _ want to show you off, but slow and steady is fine too.”

 

    Blake felt her cheeks heat at that, but shook her head. Then, something caught her eye. Upon further investigation, Blake could see the slightest hint of a purple mark on Yang’s neck,  _ just _ peeking over the edge of her scarf. She reached out to fix the scarf so it covered the hickey and said, “Well, if we’re gonna do that, you might want to cover this up then.”

 

    A soft blush spread across Yang’s face as she laughed and said, “Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea.”

 

    With her scarf sufficiently hiding the evidence of their intimacy, Yang grabbed Blake’s hand and hauled her off of  _ Bumblebee _ and towards the entrance to the house. Their purchased goods were left forgotten in the saddlebags.

 

    The door swung open violently at Yang’s push, and the blonde woman all but stormed into her home with a cry of “DAAAAAD, WE’RE HOMEEEE!”

 

    Blake couldn’t help but snort at her girlfriends antics, and followed her inside quietly.

 

    Once inside, she saw a man who looks astonishingly like her girlfriend jump up from his position on his couch like a rocket. Obviously startled Taiyang Xiao Long turned to his daughter and froze, a confused expression on his face for almost three full second before it fell away and a gleaming grin replaced it. He threw his arms around his daughter, and for just an instant, Blake saw what she thought were tears in his eyes when hugged his daughter.

 

_ ‘The last time he saw her was before I showed up…’ _ she realized, remembering the sad state she had found her partner in those few weeks before,  _ ‘This must be like an emotional bombshell to him.’ _

 

    He hugged his daughter to his chest and nuzzled into her hair. Blake felt her heart warm at the sight, recognizing the movement as something Yang would often do to Ruby when the two were having a tender moment. A second later, he spoke up, “Wow, Dust, Yang, you seem to be feeling better!” He then pushed her away at arms length to look her in the eye and continued in rapid succession, “How do you feel?! You put on your new arm! How is that? What happened while I was gone to cheer you up so much?!”

 

    Before the younger Xiao Long could answer, his blue eyes snapped up to meet Blake’s, seemingly noticing her for the first time. She could see the gears working in his head before he smiled, “Ohhh, I think I figured out one of those myself, actually. You must be Blake, I recognize your from that picture Yang keeps on the mantle.”

 

    Despite the fact they had agreed not to tell Taiyang that her and Yang were together, Blake couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the man. Trying to be polite, she said, “Yes, that’s me. I showed up not long after you left.”

 

    He nodded, putting two and two together immediately. He looked back to his daughter and said, “Well, whatever happened while I was away, I’m so glad that you’re in better spirits, sunflower.” Finally, letting go of Yang, he smiled and said, “I must admit I was a little worried when I showed up and the house was empty.”

 

    Yang moved back to Blake’s side subconsciously and explained, “Yeah, sorry about that, we were getting things for the, uh…” she trailed off, her grin losing some of it’s shine, “...the trip.”

 

    Surprised and a bit worried, Taiyang hesitantly asked, “What trip?”

 

    Over the course of the next few minutes, Yang and Blake went through their tentative plan to hunt down Ruby and their friends to help in the fight.

 

    “So, yeah, we know they’re going to Mistral, but it’s a big city. We don’t know where they are, or even if they got there in the first place,” Yang explained, idly rubbing her robotic thumb along the dinner table that they had all moved to at some point during the explanation.

 

    Next to her, Blake tapped her scroll on the table uselessly and added, “and with the CCT network still down, calling her isn’t an option.”

 

    Across the table, Taiyang sighed and rubbed his temples. He was quiet for a bit, before speaking up in a tired voice, “I may just have a solution to that problem.” He looked over the table at the questioning looks belonging to the two girls, and sighed again, before looking at Yang particularly and saying, “It...involves your mother.”

 

    Under the table, Yang’s hand wrapped around Blake’s.

 

    “Her semblance,” he began, ”lets her open portals to people she has a connection with. I know for a fact that she shares one such connection with Qrow, and he should be watching over Ruby. I know, vaguely, where Raven is, so I think that may be your best option.” He looked across the table, his eyes wavering just slightly, waiting for a response. When he didn’t receive one, he sighed deeply, and ran a hand down his face, “Look, Yang, I know you’ve had this thing with finding your mother -finding  _ answers _ \- all your life. I get that I’m asking a lot of you right now, dumping all this information on you, but right now-”

 

    “ **Stop.** ” The word was accompanied by a very slight flare of heat from Blake’s right. Yang’s hand tightened around Blake’s as Yang continued, “She doesn’t matter right now.”

 

    Blake’s eyes widened noticeably as she turned to look at her partner. She  _ knew _ how much finding her mother meant to Yang.  _ ‘What is she getting at?’ _

 

    Her unspoken question was answered soon enough. Yang’s eyes never moved from her father’s as she continued, “Right now, all I care about is finding my sister. I don’t care about my mother, if Raven can get us to Ruby, that is all I care about. Nothing else matters.”

 

    “...Ok.” he said, simply.

 

**0000000000**

 

    They spent the next few minutes talking over their new plan. Satisfied that this one was much more airtight then Blake and Yang’s original “Go to Mistral and wing it” idea, the three people all collectively leaned back into their chairs and sighed, relieved.

 

    Mourning how quickly the atmosphere of his arrival had been killed, Taiyang quickly adopted a more upbeat persona. He clapped his hands together loudly, and said, “Well, now that all that unpleasantness is done with, I say we just relax for the rest of the day! How does that sound to you girls?”

 

    Dramatically throwing her robotic arm over her forehead, Yang cried out, “Oh dustm that sounds like heaven right now. Save all the stress for later, eh, Blake?” She glanced sideways at her secret lover, silently begging her to humor her.

 

    Blake couldn’t help be be a little amused by the blonde’s theatrics, and chuckled. “Sure, that sounds good to me. We still have groceries to take in though, don’t forget.”

 

    Yang’s response to that was to throw her upper half over the table in an overacted gesture of displeasure, aided by a loud cry of, “Ughhhhhhhh!”

 

   More than used to displays like this from her bombastic partner, Blake simply patted her back and unsympathetically crooned, “There, there,” to the blonde. Despite not participating in her theatrical gesture, Blake more than agreed with the sentiment. After dealing with the stress of planning their trip and fretting over Yang’s mother, there may as well have been a King Taijitu between them and the clothes and food in Bumblebee’s saddlebags.

 

    Luckily, Yang’s father came to the rescue, “What did you guys go to pick up?”

 

   Seeing as how Yang was still facedown on the dinner table, Blake took it upon herself to answer, “Mostly some clothes for the both of us and some food for the trip.” Yang groaned loudly at the mention of their mercantile, and she patted Yang’s back again.

 

    Taiyang waved his arm through the air and said, “Nah, you guys just hang around for a bit, I’ll go get it.” Before Blake could protest, the man was already at the door.

 

    The front door swung closed with a click, and Yang slid back into her seat with a goofy smile on her face, “Works every time!” accompanied by an over-acted fist pump with her organic hand.

 

    Blake looked at her girlfriend curiously and asked, “What does that mean? You groan like a wounded ursa to get people to do your work often?” She could only maintain the condescending look for long enough for Yang to make those wide ‘forgive me’ eyes before a smirk came onto her face and, despite herself, she began to laugh.

 

    Still slouching in the seat, Yang looked up at her girlfriend and was stuck by her beauty. Before she could even stop herself her hand was brushing along Blake’s cheek and the words were spilling from her mouth, “I love it when you laugh.”

 

    “You don’t make it hard,” Blake responded, leaning into the touch.

 

    Yang cupped her cheek, and she desperately wanted to lean in and kiss her lover. When Blake turned her head into Yang’s hand and laid a feather-like kiss on her steel wrist, Yang realized that he had been using her prosthetic to touch Blake and neither of them had even noticed. Once she realized that, she couldn’t help herself. Quickly, she closed the distance, and their lips brushed in a chaste but heartfelt kiss.

 

    “Well, hell, I was gonna ask which clothes were whose, but I guess I should just put both sets of them in the guest room then,” Taiyang interrupted.

 

    With a sputtering sound not unlike a cough, Yang separated from Blake so violently that she toppled backwards off of her chair.

 

    Blake sighed, feeling that now familiar heat begin to pool in her cheeks. Dejectedly, she said to herself, “Well, so much for that.” 

 

    The older man set his armful of bags down on the floor and rubbed both hands on his face and groaned aloud, his voice sounding pained, “Ohhh, that explains all the clothes in the guest room.”

 

    His daughter, as well, groaned. She picked herself up, rubbing that back of her head, and sent a look Blake’s way. They could  _ try _ to play it off, claim it wasn’t what it looked like. Yang didn’t like that idea, though: she didn’t want to lie to her father. Even so, she would if Blake asked her to, and Blake knew that.

 

    With a grimace, Blake motioned towards Taiyang and said simply, “Go ahead.” Followed immediately, but silently, by the thought, _ ‘Oh, this is gonna be awkward.’ _

 

    “Well, Dad,” Yang started, reaching out for Blakes hand. Standing up as well, Blake’s hand wrapped around her girlfriend’s. Then, Yang continued, “This is Blake Belladonna, my partner from Beacon and my...my girlfriend.” She faltered briefly in embarrassment at the end, but managed to say ‘girlfriend’ firmly, as if daring her father to say otherwise.

 

    His hands dropped from his face, but his eyes remained pinched closed. “Oh, I don’t know whether I hate or love how ironic this is,” he said, pained.

 

_ ‘I see where Yang gets her theatrics,’ _ Blake though, her hand tightening around Yang’s worriedly.

 

    The room was silent for another minute before Taiyang finally spoke up. Seemingly feeling the tense air that his daughter and Blake were giving off, he extended a hand towards them in a placating gesture and said, “Look, there is a lot I could say right now, and a lot that I want to say, but...eh.”

 

    Of all the things Blake expected for her girlfriend’s father to say, ‘eh’ was not one of them. Yang seemingly felt similar, as almost immediately she let out an incredulous, “Eh?”

 

    Taiyang stood up straighter and took a step towards the two partners and said, “Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t  _ like _ it,” he looked directly at Blake, “It’s not a ‘gay’ thing,” then he looked at Yang, “though I wish you had told me your preferences before dropping ‘I am dating my partner’, Yang.”

 

    The blonde girl interrupted, “In my defense I didn’t know until a while after I met Blake.”

 

    Tai once more shook his head, suddenly seeming much more fatherly instead of friendly to Blake, “Be that as it may, it would’ve been nice to know before I found you underwear in your partner’s bed.” Yang rubbed the back of her head, cringing openly at that overlooked detail, while Blake’s eyes went wide as dinner plates. “ And it definitely isn’t a Faunus thing either, so don’t get that into you head.”

 

    Blake’s eyes stayed wide, her free hand flew up to her head. She had completely forgotten that she left her ears uncovered that morning.

 

    Heedless, the man continued, “I don’t like it mostly just ‘cause I’m her dad, and _ anyone _ dating my daughter is a bad thing in my eyes. I won’t lie, a part of me wants to kick your teeth in on principle.”

 

    “Dad!” Yang shouted.

 

    Blake squeezed Yang’s hand, hoping to palicate the offended Blonde.

 

    Tai held up both his hands up defensively, and took another step toward the two, now right in front of them, saying, “I know, but I had to say it. Even if that is true,” he shrugged, “well, I know my daughter, and I know that if I tried to forbid this, she’d just do it anyway. That, and I trust her.” He gave a pointed look to the brunette, “Do you plan to hurt my daughter?”

 

    It took all of Blake’s language skills to sputter out, “No, never!” She meant it, too. Never again would she ever hurt Yang if it could be avoided, she had sworn that to herself and Yang already.

 

    Next, he looked to Yang, hands by his sides, “You trust her?”

 

    Yang’s puffed her chest out, pride tinging her words, “With my life.”

 

    He nodded once, then looked at Blake and said, “Alright then, well, if it’s beyond my power to stop this, and Yang trusts you, then yes, ‘Eh’.”

 

    That was as close to his blessing as Blake was willing to fight, so she let an accepting smile grace her lips.

 

    The tense atmosphere faded, and Taiyang punctuated this by groaning once more and rubbing his face. Then, he cried, “Oh, Yang, why did you have to be born so attractive?!”

 

    “Hehe,” she chuckled nervously, before replying, “Because I take after you?”

 

    Blake had to fight hard to suppress a bout of laughter.

 

    Taiyang let out a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping forward. He was silent for a moment before reaching out to ruffle his daughter’s hair, “Flattery will get you everywhere, Sunflower.”

 

    Blake really did chuckle that time, happy that the tense atmosphere had faded.  _ ‘That wasn’t so bad,’ _ she thought.

 

    Taiyang whipped his head around towards Blake like lightning and said with darkness in his voice, “If you hurt my daughter I’ll set you on fire.”

 

    Blake, surprised and startled, could only cult and choke out a, “Y-yes sir.”

 

    “Dad!”

 

   Taiyang laughed again, reaching over to shake Blake’s shoulder good-naturedly, “I’m just kidding you two, maybe. Now, how about we get this stuff put up, and I’ll start on dinner, you to just relax.”

 

     “That sounds wonderful, actually,” Blake said.

 

    The three people spend the next few minutes putting up the things in the bags Tai had abandoned at the door. Soon enough, the food was arranged neatly in the pantry, the clothes were folded and tucked away, the clatter of pots and pans signified that Taiyang had indeed taken it upon himself to start on dinner, and Yang and Blake had retreated to the living room.

 

    Some mindless game show was playing on the holoscreen (Worst Cooks in Vale or some odd thing), and the two women were sitting on the couch shoulder-to-shoulder. After a few minutes of watching people not understand how ovens work, Yang’s head drooped onto Blake’s. “Well, that went about as well as expected,” she said.

 

    Blake hummed, and lamented, “I would’ve liked to have had a bit more time to prepare for that, but I think we handled it pretty well.” She couldn’t help but snuggle a little closer to her warm lover on the couch.

 

    Yang petted Blake’s hair idly with her organic hand and said, “I told you he would love you.”

 

    “He threatened to set me on fire.”

 

    “That’s how us Xiao Longs convey affection.”

 

    “Dork.”

 

    They sat quietly for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other’s presence. Still, Blake found herself dwelling on their looming journey. She figured that she shouldn’t voice her concerns yet and kill the mood, but Yang had said many times that Blake should tell her about her problems, so eventually Blake said, “Hey, Yang? Can I tell you something?”

 

    Yang scratched behind her ears. Being this close while Taiyang was about was probably a bad idea, but this had become the new normal for the Black and Yellow half of team RWBY over the past few weeks, and old habits die hard. “What is it, kitten,” she said, eyes closed and head tilted back towards the ceiling.

 

    Blake pulled back just an inch. Not enough to completely separate from her girlfriend, but enough to look at her. “I’m...worried,” she said eventually.

 

    Yang opened her eyes and looked at Blake. She seemed to study Blake’s face for a time before saying, “About the trip?”

 

    Blake nodded, before sighing and saying, “Sort of. It’s not about the trip itself really, but more like the leaving.” She shuffled in her seat, thinking that this was a dumb thing to be upset over, but she knew Yang wouldn’t want her keeping it to herself.

 

    “What to you mean?” Yang asked earnestly, her hand still combing through Blake’s hair despite the distance between them.

 

    “It’s just,” Blake explained, making a avague motion towards the house as a whole, “This place...you’ve given me a lot of good memories here, Yang. I can’t help but think of it as...I don’t know. Somewhere I should be.” She didn’t know the word, but she hoped Yang understood the sentiment.

 

    A smile curled Yang’s lips, and she leaned in a bit, “It feels like home, Blake. I get it.”

 

    That...sounded surprisingly accurate. Blake nodded, but didn’t match Yang’s smile, “Yes, that's about as close to the truth as possible. It’s just...I know this is important, and I want to go find Ruby and join in the fight, but at the same time I don’t want to leave.”

 

    Yang leaned forward and laid a simple kiss on Blake’s forehead. When they separated, Gold met Lilac, and Yang said, “I know what you mean, and I can’t fix that, but I can promise you that I will be there with you no matter what. And, when this is all over, we can come back here, sit on this couch, and watch what’s-her-face make ‘Salmonella Surprise’ on TV again. That sound good?”

 

    Blake snorted, not even having been paying attention to the show on the TV. “You always know what to say, don’t you?”

 

    Yang simply shook her head and said, “Nope.” 

 

    “I love you.”

 

    “I love you too, kitten.”

 

    This time, Blake leaned in. Their lips came so close to coming together.

 

    But then, from the kitchen, came a cry of “No canoodling on the sofa!”

 

    Followed shortly by a cry of “Goddamnit!” from the younger Xiao Long and a laugh from Blake.

 

**0000000000**

 

    The engine of the motorbike purred beneath the two women as it cruised slowly down the gravel road. Blake wrapped her arms around Yang’s waist tightly, despite the fact that they were going at too slow a speed to justify it. They had packed their bags and load them onto the bike. It took a feat of packing genius only Taiyang Xiao Long, the man who loaded a dog and several cans of food into a mailable container, to get enough clothes and supplies for two people into the saddlebags of the bike, but they had managed. Now, they were just beginning their journey to find Yang’s mother and, by extension, Ruby.

 

    A long road lay before them, one that neither knew for sure where it lead. The whole world was at their feet, and the rest of their lives began here. Blake was scared. She didn’t know what the future held, what hardships were waiting for them, what twists of fate were hiding in the future. Yet, as they trundled along, Blake clung to her love, and found herself strangely at peace with it all.

 

    “Hey Blake, you thought anymore about what we talked about yesterday?” Yang asked over the wind.

 

    “Actually, Yes,” Blake said, her voice sounding strangely think with emotion, “There’s so much in front of us, and I don’t know what's going to happen in the future. That scares me.”

 

    “I know what you mean,” Yang said a bit gruffly.

 

    Blake rested her head against her partner’s back, and somewhere off in the forest a bird sang. “I wish I could tell you that we’ll be fine no matter what,” Blake began, voicing her feelings, “but I don’t know that. I don’t know the answers to all the questions we have, and I don’t know what path we are on. I don’t know any of that, and it’s scary.”

 

    Somehow, Yang knew that Blake wasn’t done speaking, so she prompted her partner with, “Yeah?”

 

    “The not knowing scares me,” she admitted, “but there is one thing I do know.” She hugged herself to Yang’s back, not used to baring her emotions like this.

 

    “And what is that?” Yang questioned, partially worried about what answer she might receive.

 

    A strength came to her voice as Blake let her emotions saturate her words, “Adam, Cinder, the White Fang...they all are going to be against us, but none of that matters. All hell can come after us for all I care, Yang,” her voice seemed to crack a bit as she said that, but she continued nonetheless, “None of it matters, because as long as I’m with you, I’m at home.”

 

    There was no response Yang could possibly say except for, “I love you, Blake.”

 

    Blake leaned forward, and kissed the back of Yang’s neck like she was her whole world, and she was.

 

    “I love you, too.”

 

    “I know.”

 

    And Bumblebee roared beneath them as the headed forward to continue their story. There would be conflict, yes, but they would meet it headlong, and in hand and weapons forward.

 

    The whole might of Remnant may come upon them, but with blade a bullet alike, they would fight it all to the bitter end, together.

 

    Because nothing in Oum’s wide open world of Remnant could stop Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long from protecting their home.

**Author's Note:**

> I very much enjoyed writing this, even if it isn’t my best work. At just under 6,000 words, this story was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you all enjoyed this little one-shot as much as I did. Don’t forget to review, it’s quite literally the ONLY incentive I have to write (aside from the money I get for this commission, as these are rare), and reviews provide valuable insight on the public opinion of my writing and give me criticism from which to better myself.
> 
> Now that this is done, I will be returning to “Destiny Finds Us” again, so stay tuned for that, if my lazy ass ever gets around to writing it.


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